The Alpha left.
Kaelen listened to his footsteps fade. One, two, pause. One, two, pause. The sound echoed off the crystal walls like stones dropping into deep water.
Then silence.
Kaelen pressed his forehead to the cold sapphire. The hum was different now. Faster. Worried. The prison could feel what he felt.
The thread.
It hung between them. Thin as spider silk. Strong as chains. He could not see it. But he felt it pulling at his chest. Tugging. Asking.
Who is he?
Kaelen did not know. He knew the name—Cassian. Lord Cassian Vale. The Silent Reaper. The man with silver eyes and a fracture behind them.
But knowing a name was not knowing a man.
He slid down the crystal wall. Sat on the floor. Drew his knees to his chest. The prison warmed around him, trying to comfort. He did not want comfort.
He wanted his memories back.
Too late for that.
He closed his eyes. Tried to remember why he was here. How long. Who put him here. Nothing. Just smoke. Just the silver taste and the blue light and the emptiness where answers should live.
The Alpha will take more.
That he knew. Every healing cost a memory. The crystal demanded payment. Kaelen had learned that the hard way—waking up one morning and not recognizing his own hands. Forgetting the face of the last person who loved him.
He was a book with pages torn out.
Soon there would be nothing left but the cover.
So why agree?
He asked himself that question. Turned it over in his mind. The answer came back ugly and true.
Because the silver gas is worse.
Death by forgetting. Slow. Quiet. He would become a shell. A breathing thing with no inside. The Emperor would use him then. No resistance. No will. Just a weapon that healed on command until it broke.
Kaelen would rather burn.
But Cassian had not mentioned burning. Cassian had mentioned healing. Thirty days. A bargain.
No. Not a bargain. A threat.
The Alpha thought he had won. Thought the scroll and the seal and the Emperor's name would make Kaelen obey.
He was wrong.
Kaelen smiled in the dark. Sharp. Cold.
I will heal him. But not for free.
---
The next morning came without sunrise.
There was no sun here. No moon. No sky. Just the vault and the crystal and the hum. Kaelen measured time by the hunger in his belly and the weight of his own eyelids.
He heard the footsteps again.
One, two, pause. One, two, pause.
Cassian.
The vault door dissolved. The Alpha stepped through. Same black armor. Same silver eyes. Same trembling hands hidden at his sides.
But something was different.
A mark on his chest. Kaelen could not see it through the armor. But he felt it. Burning. Calling. The thread between them pulled tighter.
The soulwound.
It had already begun.
Cassian stopped ten feet away. Did not come closer. Smart.
"You said you would heal me," the Alpha said. Flat. Careful.
"I said I would consider it," Kaelen replied.
Cassian's eyes narrowed. "You said 'fine.'"
"I changed my mind."
The Alpha's jaw tightened. The fracture behind his eyes pulsed. Kaelen saw it—the wolf stirring. Wanting out.
Good. Let him be angry. Anger is honest.
"You do not get to change your mind," Cassian said. His voice dropped lower. Dangerous. "The Emperor—"
"The Emperor is not here." Kaelen stood. Slowly. Let the Alpha see his height. He was not tall. But he was not small either. "You are here. I am here. The Emperor's name means nothing inside this crystal."
Cassian took a step forward. Then stopped himself. His hands opened and closed.
"What do you want?"
Kaelen tilted his head. Studied the man. The exhaustion under his eyes. The way his left hand twitched every few seconds. The loneliness hanging off him like a wet coat.
He is dying, Kaelen thought. And he is alone.
"I want the truth," Kaelen said.
"The truth?"
"Why are you really here? Not the Emperor's command. Not the scroll. You. Why did you come?"
Cassian went still.
Too still. The kind of still that came before violence. His silver eyes burned.
"My reasons are my own."
"Then find another healer."
Kaelen turned his back. Walked to the far wall. Pressed his palm to the crystal. It sang to him—soft, soothing. Do not provoke him, it seemed to say. He is dangerous.
So am I.
Silence stretched behind him. Long. Heavy. He could feel the Alpha's stare on his spine. Burning holes.
Then Cassian spoke.
"I am dying."
Kaelen did not turn around.
"Not my body," Cassian continued. His voice cracked. Just a little. "My mind. There is a fracture. It spreads every day. Soon I will not be able to tell the wolf from myself. I will become… a thing. A monster."
The wolf.
Kaelen had heard of that. Alphas carried beasts inside them. Most learned to control. Some did not. The ones who failed became feral. Mindless. Dangerous to everyone—including themselves.
"The Emperor cannot heal you," Kaelen said quietly.
"The Emperor does not want to heal me." Cassian's voice turned bitter. "He wants to use me. A broken Alpha is a weapon he can aim at his enemies. When I finally snap, he will point me at someone he wants dead."
Kaelen turned.
Looked at the Alpha standing in the blue light. Silver eyes bright with rage and fear and something else.
Hopelessness.
Cassian did not expect to survive. He had come here because the Emperor ordered it. Not because he believed.
He has given up.
Something twisted in Kaelen's chest. Not the thread. Something older. Deeper.
I know that feeling.
"I will heal you," Kaelen said.
Cassian's head snapped up.
"But not for free."
The Alpha's hands clenched. "Name your price."
Kaelen walked toward him. Slow. Measured. Each step made the crystal hum louder. Cassian did not move. Did not flinch. Just watched with those silver eyes.
Kaelen stopped inches from his face.
Close enough to see the pores on his skin. The tiny scar above his lip. The way his breath hitched.
"Three things," Kaelen said.
"Name them."
"First. You will bring me food every day. Real food. Not prison slop."
Cassian blinked. "Done."
"Second. You will tell me one thing about the outside world each time you come. A story. A rumor. A name. I have been in this cage too long. I want to remember there is a world beyond this vault."
Cassian's expression flickered. Surprise. Then something softer.
"Done."
"Third." Kaelen leaned closer. His lips almost touched Cassian's ear. He whispered. "You will not lie to me. Not once. Not ever. If I ask you a question, you will answer with the truth. Even if it hurts. Even if it costs you."
Cassian went rigid.
The thread between them pulled so tight Kaelen thought it would snap.
"Truth," Cassian repeated. His voice was barely a breath.
"Truth," Kaelen said. "Can you give me that, Alpha?"
For a long moment, Cassian said nothing. His hands shook. His chest rose and fell too fast. The fracture pulsed behind his eyes like a second heartbeat.
Then he nodded.
"Yes."
Kaelen stepped back.
"Then we have a bargain."
He raised his hand. Pressed his palm to Cassian's chest. Right over the soulwound.
The Alpha gasped.
Resonance flooded between them. Silver light poured from Kaelen's fingers. He felt the fracture—felt its edges, its depth, its hunger. It was worse than he thought. The wolf had been eating Cassian from the inside for years.
This will take many sessions.
He pulled back.
The light faded.
And a memory slipped away.
A face. A woman. Dark hair. Kind eyes. She was laughing at something he said.
His mother.
Gone.
Kaelen stumbled. Cassian caught his arm. Held him upright.
"What happened?" the Alpha demanded.
Kaelen blinked. The world swam. He could not remember why his chest hurt. Could not remember the woman's name. Only that she had loved him once.
And now she is dust.
"Nothing," Kaelen said. He pulled his arm free. "First session is over. Come back tomorrow. Bring food. Bring a story."
Cassian stared at him. His silver eyes searched Kaelen's face. Looking for something.
He will not find it. It is already forgotten.
"What did you lose?" Cassian asked. Quiet.
Kaelen turned away.
"I will tell you when I remember.